About 170,000 jobs have been created by 14,200 cooperatives established since President Hassan Rouhani took office in August 2013, says deputy minister of cooperatives, labor and social welfares, Hamid Kalantari.
He put the total number of jobs in Iran’s cooperative sector at 1.65 million, out of which 52% pertain to manufacturing cooperatives, 19% to distributors and 29% to those engaged in services, ISNA reported.
Commodities worth more than $1.7 billion were exported by the cooperatives sector during the past fiscal year (March 2015-16).
“We are trying to increase this year’s exports to $2.5 billion,” Kalantari was quoted as saying.
A cooperative refers to a firm owned, controlled and operated by a group of users for their own benefit. Each member contributes equity capital and shares in the control of the firm on the basis of one-member, one-vote principle (and not in proportion to his or her equity contribution).
Article 44 of Iran’s Constitution stipulates a 25% share for Iran’s cooperatives in the gross domestic product. However, this share now barely exceeds 5%, officials say.
The Securities and Exchange Organization has recently unveiled regulations that will allow cooperatives to be listed on Iran Fara Bourse over-the-counter market. SEO regulations will give publicly-owned cooperatives the opportunity to sell shares on IFB.
The maximum stake any company or individual can hold in IFB-listed cooperatives is capped. Public companies can own up to 10% of a listed cooperative while private companies can own half of that. Individual ownership of listed cooperatives is capped at half a percent.
